Alabaster Cities (Kings and Thieves Book #2)

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"She's only protecting herself," Aveline declared, intent on peeling an orange with her small, slender fingers. She had spent the last hour with Ari on the terrace and didn't want to go inside just yet, soaking up the rays of the sun that so rarely emerged from the Verignes clouds. "You rejected her the last time, now she's doing it first so she can't be hurt."

It had been a few days since Jamie's departure from Verignes. Things in the kingdom had been quiet.

The night before, they'd received from a letter from their friend. As they'd suspected, Ben appeared to have simply come down with a fever; nothing else, which came as a great relief, but Jamie was staying a few extra days to be sure.

Eli had been to the village again that morning with his guards to visit the afflicted; and he'd reported no significant differences, which was good- at least it meant things weren't getting worse.

Aveline was antsy to reveal their findings about Peter, but they were still waiting on the witch coven to figure out what sort of drug was in his system before they reported it to any of the royal officials. Once they discovered what it was, they could more easily trace where it had come from. Until then, they couldn't do much else.

To bide the time, Aveline had brought up Jamie, naturally, and with no one else around Ari had finally let his walls down, his masked expression crumbling into bewilderment as he told her everything that had happened before Jamie had left. Currently he slumped backwards in his cushioned chair, glaring at the glass table in front of him.

"What makes you so sure?"

"I know Jamie, and I know you." Aveline tossed one of the loose peels to the grass below, idly hoping there were no guards around to scold her. "You two have always been similar in that way; guarded about your emotions. The only difference is that Jamie thinks she can sneak around with you while convincing herself that she doesn't have real feelings. You, on the other hand..." she blew out a breath. "You can't do things half-assed; you're either all in or all out. But at least you're being honest. She's just fooling herself."

"I don't think that's it." As Ari traced the thin lines on the table with his fingers, his jaw tightened in a way that made Aveline sit up.

"Alright then." She set down her orange. "What do you think it is?"

"Dammit, Aveline," he groaned. "Could we talk of something else?"

"Ari."

"It doesn't matter! It's not important. People are dying in Verignes, my trivial problems are of little significance-"

"You always do this," she complained. "You're allowed to have emotions, you know."

Ari hesitated, and Aveline waited, crossing her legs and she lifting her face to the sun. It felt light and soothing in an otherwise overcast kingdom. She had missed this; being outside, letting the sunshine warm her skin.

"I think it's me," Ari blurted in a rush, briefly surprising her. "I don't think anyone can love me. Not the way that you do."

His confession made Aveline flinch. She'd known her friend's thoughts on this, of course, but to hear him say it aloud made her chest hurt. And he looked so solemn, it reminded her of a similar expression he used to make when he was a little boy.

"That's only because I know you," she said with emphasis, willing him to listen. "I've known you since I was eight. You've saved my life on multiple occasions, and I've saved your life... I don't know, a hundred more times than that..." he rolled his eyes, and she continued, "Ari, anyone who knows you—really knows you, loves you."